Sasuke

Natsuki had only enjoyed a few leisurely days when Fugaku caught him and insisted that Sasuke become his disciple.

Previously, with the situation still unclear, Fugaku had planned to send Sasuke out of the village, but Natsuki had stopped him.

Natsuki's reason was that there were too many ambitious people in the ninja world now.

Unless someone with a Mangekyō Sharingan protected Sasuke, he would be even more vulnerable alone outside.

What a joke. If Sasuke wasn't in Konoha,

how could he form a bond with Naruto, grow stronger, get beaten down, grow stronger again, get beaten down again, and grow stronger once more?

Still, this was merely one of Natsuki's casual moves.

Though Sasuke and Naruto were both Children of Destiny—Sasuke the reincarnation of Indra, Naruto the reincarnation of Asura—

when it came to talent, you could say he had it, since the extermination of his clan had enraged him into awakening a One Tomoe Sharingan.

But you could also say he didn't, since after spending only a year with Naruto, he had already reached Three Tomoe.

His remaining Two Tomoe and Three Tomoe were both connected to Naruto.

Only by being Naruto's teammate or rival could he improve so quickly.

According to Itachi's design, Sasuke should have awakened the Mangekyō long ago.

They should have fought an evenly matched battle, with Itachi ultimately dying by Sasuke's hand.

That would have released the hatred in Sasuke's heart and allowed him to achieve the Eternal Mangekyo.

Yet when Sasuke fought him, he had only a pitiful Three Tomoe.

That battle against Sasuke must have been the most difficult fight of Itachi's life.

After all, he had to calculate Sasuke's Chakra, his own Chakra, his lifespan, and his ocular power.

And he couldn't let Sasuke see through it.

That level of holding back was truly unparalleled.

Sasuke had lived a hard life. His clan had been exterminated when he was young, and his Older Brother had deceived him.

He had made Sasuke live on while bearing false hatred.

Little Sasuke had never considered whether any of it made sense.

The Uchiha Clan had been exterminated, so why had Konoha shown no reaction? What had the Anbu been doing?

With no one to guide him, his temperament had become unstable after the clan massacre. He was both proud and insecure.

Once he gained more power, he became confident and arrogant.

Every time he leveled up, he grew more conceited. Once he obtained the Mangekyō, he believed himself invincible.

He was always challenging bosses above his level—Three Tomoe against the Mangekyō, Mangekyō against the Eight-Tails, Eternal Mangekyo against the Rinnegan.

As a result, every time he got carried away, he received a vicious beating.

How many years had Itachi used his Mangekyō Sharingan?

Sasuke, meanwhile, went from awakening his Mangekyō Sharingan to going blind in less than a month.

His actual usage time did not even exceed an hour.

Perhaps it was the influence of the Sharingan, but by the time he finally sought revenge, he was ready to kill anyone he saw.

In the end, he and Naruto sealed Kaguya Otsutsuki together. Natsuki felt there had been far too many coincidences involved.

But none of that had happened now, so Sasuke no longer needed to struggle so much.

Natsuki did not need to place all his hopes on Sasuke.

After all, Itachi was still around.

Itachi learned quickly. His kunai and Shuriken skills far surpassed ninjas of the same level, and his hand seal speed was unbelievably fast.

In battle, he knew how to use an enemy's attacks against them and control the entire war situation.

After entering the Anbu, his strength had grown far faster than even the genius Kakashi's. By the time he defected from the village, he was already comparable to a Kage-level powerhouse.

His strongest ability was undoubtedly his Genjutsu. With a single glance, he could reflect Konoha's Genjutsu master Kurenai Yuhi's illusion back at her, and one Tsukuyomi could instantly defeat Kakashi.

Even Orochimaru, one of the veteran Three Ninja, had been nailed in place by a single Genjutsu from Itachi.

He was calm and steady by nature, composed beyond measure at all times.

He could quickly analyze an enemy's weaknesses in actual combat, possessed extremely strong judgment on the spot, and always held a Trump Card capable of turning the situation around.

If he could grow properly, he would be more reliable than Sasuke.

His only flaw was his poor health, which was why Natsuki had arranged for him to go to the Land of Rice.

Shisui was also a youthful genius. He had awakened the Mangekyō earlier and faster than Sasuke.

His Genjutsu was even superior to Itachi's, and his movement techniques were exceptional.

Other than that bulldozer from Cloud Village and those who possessed Space-Time Ninjutsu,

few people could keep up with his speed.

In his original world, if he had not died so early, his later achievements would have been limitless.

That was why he was also one of Natsuki's key training targets.

So Natsuki had not put much effort into training Sasuke.

With your Older Brother and Shisui holding things down, you could just take it easy.

But Fugaku had already come to make the request in person.

Natsuki could no longer keep refusing.

After all, although the system had helped with everything, Fugaku had always given his full support to every decision Natsuki made, which was why things had gone so smoothly.

Sasuke was Indra's reincarnation after all, and he was still a child. Natsuki would see if he could salvage him.

If Sasuke could become more steady, he might still become a major combat power in the future.

When Sasuke had first been brought back to the village, he learned that so much had happened to the clan while he had been away.

His beloved Brother Shisui had had his eyes dug out.

The clan had gained a Vice Clan Head. His admired Older Brother had left the village and taken many Uchiha Clan members with him.

His home had been destroyed and was now in ruins. Fortunately, Father Lord and Mother were still alive.

In his five-year-old mind, he had no idea why any of this had happened.

He walked down the street alone, feeling rather gloomy. Though unhappy, he still had to maintain a cool expression.

After all, he was an Uchiha!

When the villagers saw him, there was something strange in their eyes, though goodwill outweighed it.

After all, Sasuke was only a child, and his family had just suffered a tremendous upheaval.

To ordinary people, those upheavals marked the beginning of a noble clan's decline.

Sasuke could not understand what those looks meant, but they made him deeply unhappy.

He ran forward desperately and, before he knew it, arrived at the little forest he often visited.

Before he even reached the spot, he heard children shrieking insults.

"Get lost! You Demon Fox! Who wants to play with you?"

"Just wait! I'll definitely become Hokage!"

"Hahahaha, you think someone like you can become Hokage?"

"You Demon Fox are the one who killed my Dad!"

"Hit him!"

"Hit him!"

Sasuke passed through the woods and saw several children fighting.

A few children were riding on Naruto Uzumaki's back and beating him.

Naruto Uzumaki's face was streaked with tears, but he refused to admit defeat and kept struggling.

"Hey! Who gave you permission to bully someone?!"

Sasuke stepped out of the woods.

"Who are you?!"

"What business is it of yours?!"

Sasuke shoved his hands into his pockets. "I'm Sasuke Uchiha! Let him go now, or don't blame me for getting rough."

"Uchiha?!"

The children looked at one another.

Then they burst out laughing. "What's so great about the Uchiha? Hahahaha!"

"The Uchiha are finished."

"Even your Uchiha Clan's Young Clan Head defected. What are you still putting on airs for?"

"Damn it!" Sasuke flew into a rage upon hearing that.

"I'll teach you little brats a lesson today."

Sasuke charged forward and knocked the child pinning Naruto down with a single punch.

Naruto took the chance to get to his feet. He was tough as nails; though covered in dirt, he had not suffered any real injuries.

The two of them joined forces and fought with the other three children.

Sasuke had come from the Uchiha Clan, after all. Unlike Naruto's wild punches,

his taijutsu already had some form to it. One sweep of his leg and one elbow strike

were enough to knock down two of them, while Naruto was still wrestling with the other two.

Naruto endured a punch and knocked another child to the ground.

Seeing that they could not gain any advantage, the children helped one another up and ran off at full speed.

"One Demon Fox and one traitor's clansman. Just you wait..."

Only Naruto remained in the woods, filthy and with tear tracks still on his face.

Sasuke was still perfectly clean, but his expression was no better.